Why Yes, It IS a Food Group....

I totally recommend visiting the place you have lived all your life as a tourist. I grew up in NY and until this weekend, dare I say, I pretty much hated it. As a child it was too big, too scary, and just over the top. Now as an adult I have a growing appreciation for it (as a visitor, I will never willingly live there again). As a tourist, I'm like all the other tourists who wants to walk around wearing a big silly statue of liberty hat and dance on the toy piano keys in FAO Schwartz.

Took a few of my favorite buddies with me to NY this weekend for the start of my 25+10 birthday week festivities. (I keep saying start like I have a whole lineup planned....if you know me for real, you know I don't, lol).

Things you learn when you and 3 good buddies forego sleep and take off for a quick weekend in NY:

--Going to sleep at 1am and waking up at 3am isn't fun for anyone, but it can be done.

--Friends will wake you from slumber on a bus by saying "You up?!" loud as they want to....and expect for you to be up.

--Lack of sleep will make you think people are laying on each other on a bus seat...lol

--NY Subway is and always will be confusing as hell. Trains change times, lanes and stops at will. (The sign says the #1 stops here, but ummm not today)

--Stops on the NYC Subway Map are NOT as close as they appear.

--NYorkers don't know where things are either and give bad directions.

--Its ok to take the scenic route to your hotel....while hungry and still be pleasant and crack jokes.

-- You can skip your "coming out partay" but hook a boo within 10 minutes on a NY subway with a simple "whatcha reading?"

--Beware the advice they give you in the Scream exhibit in Madame Tussauds....people DO touch you....(sorry Erika, lol)

--Choking your friend because you're scared to death and grab hold to the purse strap precariously strapped across her neck can and does happen. And although you try to will your hands to release her (especially when she starts coughing from the lack of oxygen) try as you might, fear will make your hands freeze like cement to said friend ....

--Coming out of the same exhibit screaming like a wild banshee into total silence ....yup, still embarrassing.

--Shown up by the teeny bopper teenagers who come out of the same exhibit right after you silent and poised....yup embarrassing.

--Even a wax Lenny Kravitz is sexy as heck.

--NSync will make a grown woman dance & squeal, even all those years later.

--Garrett Popcorn IS a food group.

--1 1/2 year old thugs will hold you at arms length, and will not make eye contact but will mean mug you....unnerving but cute. Those same thugs will not even crack a smile while coming down a slide.

--Roughing a little kid so you can swing in Central Park, totally worth it.

--Asking the two little girls what "the plan" is BEFORE you agree to tire swing with them....essential to avoid silent terror.

-- A hook up of wine & cheese delivered to the hotel room....definitely hits the spot.

--Aspiring Broadway artists who sing while they deliver your dinner....more fun than I ever imagined.

--Times Square with shades on at night...totally necessary and totally worth a strike a pose moment.

--Garrett Popcorn is still a food group, especially while lying in bed at a hotel.

--Having the hotel tell you they have no more blankets.....wth? Only in NY.

--One snorer, 3 innocents....2 prepared with ear plugs, one thought they didn't need them....guess who didn't have ear plugs??

--3am conspiracy theories....without glasses on....never come to fruition. For the record, never suspect that a friend is sneaking to eat popcorn while you sleep. At 3am. By the window. Yup, that doesn't happen in real life.

--Garrett Popcorn is a necessary food group that must make its way from NY to DC...

--Getting to your stop 1.5 hours early to snag a front seat aboard the double decker mega bus only to have plans thwarted by the family with tykes who got moved to the front of the line and dash to the seat before you (even when we had the track star take a short cut to the front of the bus)...sucks....

--Looking into the eyes of the parents who definitely want the prized seats and ask "you don't mind do you?" as her miniature 4 year old gazes up at you with big innocent eyes....weakens you.

--Smiling as that same group then cooked under the hot glare of the sun all the way back....makes you feel absolute vindication.

--Riding the bus on the hottest day of the year so far with the AC broken and the heat in the floor boards stuck in the on position....just our luck.

--Making it back to DC, realized I had the best mini trip of my life....and now I've caught the mini trip bug...

Happy Early B-Day to me....more to come....